All Forum Posts by: Craig Curelop

@Chai Jonn - If you are open to staying in Denver, there are a lot of great opportunities. You typically need to get a bit creative such as doing a rent by the room strategy or adding a mother-in-law suite, etc. 

@Steven Eastman - Yes sir! Can't switch it out without refinancing. Refinancing into an LLC gives you "investment" rates which are more expensive.

@Maria N. - Congratulations on your first post, getting pre-approved, and welcome to the community! 

Landing a 2-4 unit in Denver is tough to do if you want a lot of cash flow. For $500k or less, you can likely get an up/down duplex in the up and coming parts of Denver or a side by side in the suburbs. It's tough to make these work if you are going for maximum cash flow. If you want to have minimal cash flow (maybe $200 to $300 a month when you move out), but want to hold on for appreciation, it would be a good play. 

Personally, what I have done and have helped a lot of other people do is find a single family residence with 5+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms. Live in one room or rent the others. Alternatively, you can find a single family residence with a mother-in-law suite. Rent out the mother-in-law suite and you'll be able to rent it out as a duplex when you move out. 

With these strategies, I have cash flowed well over $1,000 a month and am still realizing the appreciation of Denver. 

Best of luck! 

@Erin Spradlin - I made a pretty immediate and perhaps hasty decision to switch all of my AirBnbs to long term, traditional rentals. I underwrote my properties for this situation. Obviously, not a pandemic, but a slowdown in the short-term rental market. So my properties work both ways. 

I ended up with about a month of AirBnb properties during this COVID crisis and was making about $900/month on my one bedroom and $1,100 on my three-bedroom. I rented the one-bedroom out for $1,300 and the three-bedroom out for $1,550. 

Could I have stayed afloat with those numbers? Most likely! But I chose the route that was more money for now and also a bit more sustainable (in my opinion). 

@Steven Eastman - I literally just did an IG post on this. I've been getting this question a lot lately. Here is my setup. 

• Personal Checking - for personal expenses
• Rental Property Checking - For all rental inflows and outflows.
• Business Checking - For all Agent related business
• Personal Saving - Reserves for Taxes

I do not have a separate account for each property. That will get quite cumbersome as you start building your portfolio. I also do not have a separate account where I keep my reserves. I am just sure to keep a healthy balance in all of my accounts. 

I have an LLC for the properties I purchase out of state. However, for house hacks and Denver properties. I buy them in my personal name. The reason being is that you can't get a personal loan in an LLC and personal loans tend to have much better rates, terms, down payments, requirements, etc.

@Maria N. - Finding a multi-family in the metro Denver area is very tough. In almost all cases they barely cash flow when you move out if you are doing a house hack. 

That being said, there are TONS of single family houses with basements that have been finished and have their own kitchen. That tends to be the best play here if you are looking for a house hack. Either that or a single family and renting it by the room. 

@Ann MacMillan - I have talked to many investors about this rent vs. sell debate. Every experienced investors (10+ years) has said they regret every property they ever sold. 

If your condo is in a GREAT location in Denver. Do you think that is going to appreciate over the next 10-20 years? I sure as heck do! And the appreciation is what really makes you rich. The fact that you also get ~$300 a month is a bonus! 

If you have owned that condo for 5 years, I bet that you have some equity in that property. I'd recommend taking out a HELOC and invest more that way.

@Account Closed - Congratulations on the new job! Chicago is an amazing city! Like many of the folks on this thread, I also live & invest in Denver while owning a handful of out of state properties. 

On Denver, it all depends on where you are on that spectrum of cash flow vs. appreciation. Overall, Denver will not be the best cash flowing market if you decide to go the traditional route (buy a 1-4 unit and rent it out). If you want to get a bit creative and rent by the room, it is slightly more work, but you'll go from $200-$300 a month in cash flow to $1,000 to $2,000. 

As for out of state investing, the biggest thing is building a rockstar team. You are going to want an agent who not only invests, but invests the same way that you want to. If so, they likely will have done the leg work in finding great contractors, property manager, and lenders, and you will have all of the other connections you need to succeed! 

@Greg Pasquale - It looks like you are a relatively new investor? If you do not have any connections where you live in terms of quality contractors, I would stay away from a large rehab for now. Hard money can bankrupt you. So can bad contractors. Even worse if you have both! Not to mention, you will need to typically wait six-months to Refinance so you'll be paying six-months of hard money. 

Have you looked into renting by the room? Buying a single family house with 4 or 5 bedrooms? Living in one room and renting the others. I don't know your market at all, but single family homes tend to be cheaper, and you can get higher rent when renting by the room. 

@Mike Stephens and @Jamaal Gibbs - I would be shocked if we saw anything remarkably close to what we saw in 2008 in terms of a recession or drops in real estate prices. Here are my biggest two reasons:

1. 2008 was not a good time and also was not long ago. The government is going to do everything in it's power to stop another '08 from happening. I saw something was passed the other day that they are requiring that banks DO NOT call 3-months of mortgage payments due for those that needed help during these COVID times. 

2. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the housing market in Denver. Prices were (and still are) increasing because there is low inventory and the swarms of millennials who moved out here in 2014 and 2015 are now buying houses. 

The people who are going to be hurting the most are people who solely relied on short term rental income to pay their mortgages and were careless with the money they were making. Though, given the harsh rules short term rental laws in Denver, I suspect most people had a plan for what to do if they were to ever be caught renting short term. They are likely executing those strategies now. 

I could be wrong... but I wouldn't wait on the sidelines forever for a market dip. It could never happen. Just buy cash flowing deals and it doesn't matter what the market does.